Overview
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Dormant

Native Speakers Worldwide

0?

Domains of Use

No data

Speaker Number Trends

No data

Transmission

No data

Recent Resources

No resources

Community Members

    No members

Revitalization Programs

No programs

Discussion Forum

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Language Information By Source

Three critically endangered language isolates, Mako, Sape, and Uruak
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Dormant

Native Speakers Worldwide

0?

Domains of Use

No data

Speaker Number Trends

No data

Transmission

No data

Speakers

Second-language speakers and learners

No data

Semi-speakers

4?

Child speakers

No data

Young adult speakers

No data

Older adult speakers

No data

Elder Speakers

No data

Ethnic Population

No data

Non-monolingual speakers

No data

More about speakers

In 1964 only 10 adults could speak some Sapé; Migliazza recorded Sapé materials from one of the last speakers in that year. Walter Coppens (1970a) found a speaker who was married to two women of Uruák origin, though everyone in the family spoke only Pemón. From Coppens’’ description, this consultant seems to have been a semi-speaker. Coppens (1970a) collected a small unpublished vocabulary list from him. By 1977 there were reported to be only 5 speakers (Migliazza 1978). Francia Medina (2008) reported that the last speaker of Sapé passed away in 2004; she had lived in the community of Boca de Karún. Nevertheless, Laura Perozo et al. (2008:175) report that in fieldwork in 2005 four speakers (apparently semi-speakers) of Sapé were found, two in the community of Karunken (río Karún), one in Boca de Ichún, and one in the community of Kawaimaken. One of these, Carolina Torres Capote of Karunken was over 60 years old in 2005 (Medina 2008:740), from whom Perozo et al. were able to obtain a short wordlist.

Year of info

2013

Location and Context

Countries

Venezuela

Coordinates

No data

Location description

Sapé (a.k.a. Kaliana, Kariana, Sape) was spoken on the Paragua River and its Karun tributary in southern Venezuela near Brazil. Its status is unclear.

Government support

No data

Institutional support

No data

Speakers' attitudes

Negative

Standard orthography

No data

Script (Writing system)

No data

Other writing systems

Sapé (a.k.a. Kaliana, Kariana, Sape) was spoken on the Paragua River and its Karun tributary in southern Venezuela near Brazil. Its status is unclear.

More on writing systems

No data

Other languages used

Spanish, Pemon,

Domains of other languages

No data

More on context

No data

Severely Endangered

Native Speakers Worldwide

50

Domains of Use

No data

Speaker Number Trends

No data

Transmission

No data

Speakers

Second-language speakers and learners

No data

Semi-speakers

No data

Child speakers

No data

Young adult speakers

No data

Older adult speakers

No data

Elder Speakers

No data

Ethnic Population

No data

Non-monolingual speakers

No data

More about speakers

No data

Year of info

2010

Location and Context

Countries

No data

Coordinates

5.0033,-63.5449

Location description

No data

Government support

No data

Institutional support

No data

Speakers' attitudes

No data

Standard orthography

No data

Script (Writing system)

No data

Other writing systems

No data

More on writing systems

No data

Other languages used

No data

Domains of other languages

No data

More on context

No data

Critically Endangered

Native Speakers Worldwide

5

Domains of Use

No data

Speaker Number Trends

No data

Transmission

No data

Speakers

Second-language speakers and learners

No data

Semi-speakers

No data

Child speakers

No data

Young adult speakers

No data

Older adult speakers

No data

Elder Speakers

No data

Ethnic Population

<25

Non-monolingual speakers

No data

More about speakers

5 (1977 E. Migliazza). Ethnic population: 25 or fewer (1977 E. Migliazza). (Speaker number unchanged 2016.)

Year of info

2009

Location and Context

Countries

Venezuela;

Coordinates

No data

Location description

Bolivar State, 3 small settlements on the Paragua and Karuna rivers.

Government support

No data

Institutional support

No data

Speakers' attitudes

No data

Standard orthography

No data

Script (Writing system)

No data

Other writing systems

Bolivar State, 3 small settlements on the Paragua and Karuna rivers.

More on writing systems

No data

Other languages used

No data

Domains of other languages

No data

More on context

No data

Critically Endangered

Native Speakers Worldwide

a few elders

Domains of Use

No data

Speaker Number Trends

No data

Transmission

No data

Speakers

Second-language speakers and learners

No data

Semi-speakers

No data

Child speakers

No data

Young adult speakers

No data

Older adult speakers

No data

Elder Speakers

No data

Ethnic Population

20

Non-monolingual speakers

No data

More about speakers

No data

Year of info

2012

Location and Context

Countries

Venezuela

Coordinates

No data

Location description

No data

Government support

No data

Institutional support

No data

Speakers' attitudes

No data

Standard orthography

No data

Script (Writing system)

No data

Other writing systems

No data

More on writing systems

No data

Other languages used

No data

Domains of other languages

No data

More on context

No data

Critically Endangered

Native Speakers Worldwide

5

Domains of Use

No data

Speaker Number Trends

No data

Transmission

No data

Speakers

Second-language speakers and learners

No data

Semi-speakers

No data

Child speakers

No data

Young adult speakers

No data

Older adult speakers

No data

Elder Speakers

No data

Ethnic Population

28 (in 1992)

Non-monolingual speakers

No data

More about speakers

Most Sapé have intermarried with Pemon (Cariban), and a few with Uruak and Yanam (Yanomaman). These linguistically mixed marriages, especially with the economically more powerful Pemon, have led to a language shift from Sapé to Pemon.

Year of info

2007

Location and Context

Countries

Venezuela

Coordinates

No data

Location description

Bolivar State, three settlements on the Paragua and Karun rivers.

Government support

No data

Institutional support

No data

Speakers' attitudes

No data

Standard orthography

No data

Script (Writing system)

No data

Other writing systems

Bolivar State, three settlements on the Paragua and Karun rivers.

More on writing systems

No data

Other languages used

No data

Domains of other languages

No data

More on context

No data

Critically Endangered

Native Speakers Worldwide

5

Domains of Use

No data

Speaker Number Trends

No data

Transmission

No data

Speakers

Second-language speakers and learners

No data

Semi-speakers

No data

Child speakers

No data

Young adult speakers

No data

Older adult speakers

No data

Elder Speakers

No data

Ethnic Population

No data

Non-monolingual speakers

No data

More about speakers

No data

Year of info

2010

Location and Context

Countries

No data

Coordinates

No data

Location description

No data

Government support

No data

Institutional support

No data

Speakers' attitudes

No data

Standard orthography

No data

Script (Writing system)

No data

Other writing systems

No data

More on writing systems

No data

Other languages used

No data

Domains of other languages

No data

More on context

No data

Critically Endangered

Native Speakers Worldwide

5

Domains of Use

No data

Speaker Number Trends

No data

Transmission

No data

Speakers

Second-language speakers and learners

No data

Semi-speakers

No data

Child speakers

No data

Young adult speakers

No data

Older adult speakers

No data

Elder Speakers

No data

Ethnic Population

No data

Non-monolingual speakers

No data

More about speakers

No data

Year of info

Location and Context

Countries

No data

Coordinates

No data

Location description

No data

Government support

No data

Institutional support

No data

Speakers' attitudes

No data

Standard orthography

No data

Script (Writing system)

No data

Other writing systems

No data

More on writing systems

No data

Other languages used

No data

Domains of other languages

No data

More on context

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Media Resources

No resources

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Filter By

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  1. Endangered Languages Catalogue Project. Compiled by research teams at University of Hawai'i Mānoa and Institute for Language Information and Technology (LINGUIST List) at Eastern Michigan University
    2012. "Endangered Languages Catalogue Project. Compiled By Research Teams At University of Hawai'i Mānoa and Institute For Language Information and Technology (LINGUIST List) At Eastern Michigan University."
  2. Ethnologue: Languages of the World, 16th Edition (2009)
    Lewis, M. Paul (ed.). 2009. Ethnologue: Languages of the World, 16 edn. http://www.ethnologue.com/home.asp. (15 February, 2011.)
    http://www.ethnologue.com/
  3. Atlas of the World’s Languages in Danger
    Moseley, Christopher (ed.). 2010. Atlas of the World’s Languages in Danger, 3rd edn. http://www.unesco.org/culture/en/endangeredlanguages/atlas. (03 June, 2011.)
    http://www.unesco.org/culture/en/endangeredlanguages/atlas
  4. South America
    Crevels, Mily. 2007. "South America." In Atlas of the World's Endangered Languages, edited by C. Moseley. 103-196. London & New York: Routledge.
  5. The status of the least documented language families in the world
    Harald Hammarström. 2010. "The Status of the Least Documented Language Families in the World." In Language Documentation and Conservation, 4: 177-212. Online: http://scholarspace.manoa.hawaii.edu/bitstream/handle/10125/4478/hammarstrom.pdf;jsessionid=76414DD90F95DF076959B1AEB0158091?sequence=1.
    http://scholarspace.manoa.hawaii.edu/bitstream/handle/10125/4478/hammarstrom.pdf;jsessionid=76414DD90F95DF076959B1AEB0158091?sequence=1
  6. Language endangerment in South America: The clock is ticking
    Crevels, Mily. 2012. "Language Endangerment in South America: The Clock Is Ticking." In The Indigenous Languages of South America: A Comprehensive Guide, edited by Hans Henrich Hock et al.. 167-234. Mouton de Gruyter.
  7. World Oral Literature Project
    "World Oral Literature Project." Online: http://www.oralliterature.org.
    http://www.oralliterature.org
  8. Maku, Sape and Uruak Languages: Current Status and Basic Lexicon
    Ernesto C. Migliazza. 1978. "Maku, Sape and Uruak Languages: Current Status and Basic Lexicon." In Anthropological Linguistics, XX: 133-140.
  9. Languages of the Orinoco-Amazon Region: Current Status
    Ernesto C. Migliazza. 1985. "Languages of the Orinoco-Amazon Region: Current Status." In South American Indian Languages: Retrospect and Prospect, edited by Harriet E. Manelis Klein and Louisa Stark. 17-139. Texas University Press.
  10. Exploración del Paragua
    B. de Matallana and Cesareo de Armellada. 1943. "Exploración Del Paragua." In Boletín de la Sociedad Venezolana de ciencias naturales, VIII: 61-110.
  11. Coppens, W. 1983. .In Los Aborigenes de Venezuela, Vol II, edited by W. Coppens. 29: 381-406. Caracas: Fundación la Salle.